The hard working, patriotic, citizens of this country have been quiet for too long. We have watched as the government has actively dumbed down our educational system. We allowed fringe groups, some of whom identify as “woke”, to drive the social agenda for the entire nation. Our lack of attention allowed the government to become an all encompassing beast that is out of control. Higher education has become a cesspool that continues to pollute the minds of ever more young Americans. I fear we are approaching that critical point of no return.
I am happily sensing a bit of a sea change. For the first time in a long time there are signs of a national uprising. There seems to be a fire in the belly of a growing number of patriotic Americans. This post aims to point out some of the problems we have allowed to gain traction. It will suggest ways that we can push back against those who would do harm to us, and our country.
The sea change I’m feeling was brought on by groups of parents who refused to allow school administrators, teachers, and school boards, to bully and brainwash their children. The movement started in Loudoun County, VA. and has quickly spread all over the U.S. Untold thousands of parents are rightfully saying NO MORE. The only positive that came out of the COVID pandemic is that it allowed parents, who were forced to stay home, to see firsthand the lessons their children were being taught. Critical Race Theory (CRT), or one of its aliases, was running rampant in too many of our schools. White K-12 children are being taught they are racist oppressors. Black K-12 children are being taught they are hopeless victims. While this isn’t true of every school, it is true in far too many. School employees, and teacher unions, lied when asked if they were teaching CRT. During further investigation parents found sexually explicit books in school libraries. Mama bears, soon to be followed by papa bears, said no way. They are leading the charge in removing this malignant cancer from our schools. They are recalling board members who lied to them, and sponsoring candidates to replace board members who allowed it to happen. Parents have developed a successful business plan that should be followed by other groups who plan to stop some of the damage being done to our children, and our country.
It is time for those of us who understand the importance of history to step up and defend it. Across this great nation, statues and monuments are being removed or defaced. Schools, and other public buildings, are being renamed without the consent of the general population. I understand that some historical markers might be viewed as offensive to some. In a country of 330 million people priding themselves in free speech we are all going to be offended occasionally. History is real. It happened. Instead of erasing history, we should be teaching the significance of it on today’s citizens, especially our kids. It is sad that the statues of American heroes like Frederick Douglass, Robert E. Lee, and Abraham Lincoln, have been removed or defaced. We have lost our way if we can’t muster the courage to defend the honor of our Founding Fathers. Proud Americans need to stand against the ignorance of the minority. City by city we must show up and demand that, before statues and monuments can be removed, a vote by citizens must be held to approve said removal. The same for renaming public buildings. It is time for citizens to get laws passed that protect our history.
The NFL continues to allow athletes to take a knee during the playing of the national anthem. It has cowardly decided to address this issue by playing two national anthems. Sorry Mr. Goodell, the USA has but one national anthem! The millionaire players are provided an opportunity in this great nation that is not available in any other. If it pains them to stand for a minute or two to honor veterans, active duty service members, and this country, then I say screw them. Stop going to the games. Turn off the televisions. Let’s see if pro football fans are as tough as mama bears.
Top NBA management, and players, are not just cowards. They are hypocritical cowards . They wear jerseys touting freedom and justice. Then they sign multi billion dollar contracts with China. Those contracts require they give up their freedom of speech to appease the communists. They don’t care that their shoes are made by real slave laborers, who have no freedom, and have never enjoyed a minute of justice. Every American who actually believes in freedom and justice should avoid doing anything that puts money in the pockets of the NBA. It is a disgrace to everything American.
Perhaps the greatest example of cowardice is being exhibited by adults who know better. They don’t have the courage to do what they know is right. America is chock-a-block full of degreed adults with responsibility, not to be confused with responsible adults. When it comes to confronting the “woke” community they cower under their desks. Even protecting the privacy and safety of kids takes a back seat to political correctness. In high schools and colleges there is a growing number of male athletes who “identify” as females. These males are being permitted to use locker and shower room facilities heretofore designated for females. They are also competing on female athletic teams. This is wrong on every level. Females lose the safety and privacy provided in the dressing room designated for them. Their safety is put at risk when they are forced to compete against bigger, stronger, faster, males. Finally, females lose the opportunity to compete, and be successful, in their chosen sport. A recent example can be found in the swimming pool at the University of Pennsylvania. In the just completed NCAA D-1 national swimming championships Lia Thomas, a male who identifies as a female, won the 500 yard freestyle. The result means that the female who finished second was deprived of becoming a national champion. The females who finished 2nd and 3rd, Emma Weyant, and Erica Sullivan respectively, were both Olympians. Allowing men to compete with women is unsafe, and unfair. Everyone knows it. We need a few credentialed, degreed, adults to step up and put an end to this nonsense.
Finally, it is not just high schools and colleges who have bowed to political correctness. Last week the USA Today announced their winners of the female of the year award. One of them was Rachel, nee Robert, Levine. He is the Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health. The newspaper said: “These honorees are strong and resilient women . . .” Except they’re not. Rachel is a man. I don’t care how many hormones he takes, or how hard he wishes to be a female. I don’t care if he has his genitals removed. He is a man. Science, biology, and DNA, all confirm he is a man. All it took for the USA Today to honor him was that he identify as a woman. In so doing, the partisan rag basically said there was no female in all of the USA who had accomplished a feat as important as that of a man identifying as a woman. This is unbelievably insulting to every woman in the U.S. If I owned the newspaper I’d be embarrassed. If I were a female I would never read the paper again. Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you found it interesting please be sure to tell your friends. Bob
I agree with many of the positions you take on topics that you raise in your blogs.
However, I think you would get much more “traction” if you focused on one issue at a time, rather than covering multiple issues in you blogs
There has to be ONE issue that you absolutely place more importance on…. Go after that in each blog. A concise point of view will punch through the cloud of vitriol that is out there. Less is more.
Too many issues to focus on can leave your readers breathless, overloaded, and uncertain.
Frank,
Thanks for the input. I will certainly take that advice seriously. You know I value your opinion. Stay well. Give my best to Jane. Bob
Absolutely love your content. You nail it everytime.
Nancy,
Thanks for your comments, and continued support. It is absurd that we should have to spend time on a topic as obviously wrong as this. But we do. Give my best to Jim.
Bob
You are right on target Bob. I’m really concerned about what’s happening to our military as well.
Bill,
You, being an old war horse, understand nothing will change until the vast majority of Americans who are against this nonsense stand against it. I will continue to soldier on, trying to get my fellow Americans off their couches and in the fray. Thanks for your support. Bob
Robert E. Lee is a hero? Ummm, wha…? And where have statues of Lincoln and Douglass been torn down?
And for any “concerned” parent that is questioning CRT, I ask people to first UNDERSTAND it. Do the work of unpacking what CRT is (it is NOT a “blame the white man for everything” propaganda). And then, be that responsible parent and check out your children’s syllabi. Most schools provide all class syllabi (which includes the books that are being read in that course, the topics being covered, etc.) If a parent has a problem with a topic or teacher, then they can go meet with the principal and / or curriculum director. But more often, people just show up at school board meetings and rant against CRT (of which they’ve done no research) or worse yet, threaten school board members. It’s DISGUSTING.
And it’s called a PUBLIC school because it represents just that – THE PUBLIC. The broad, beautiful, diverse public. That means not everyone looks like you or believes the same as you. Different religions, different values, different races. It is a tough thing for schools to balance the diversity, I’m certain. If you insist on everything aligning as YOU SPECIFICALLY believe, then private schools are an option.
And sir, in some cases you state “facts” but often manipulate them to make your “point.” In many other cases, you pander to the panic – making broad statements without any support, to rile people up.
I do appreciate your “statistics” on Defunding the Police but that’s always been a misnomer. And wouldn’t you agree that the system is broken? That some alternative approach is worth pursuing? ie, programs to help people break the cycle of systemic / generational poverty, welfare, crime, etc? Which would ultimately reduce the need for police “force.” So “defund” really means “Reform” or “Transform” the police, so that it can be a multiple pronged approach to meeting the needs for public safety.
I’m doubtful that I’ll “convince” you of anything, but I wanted you to know that there are people like me, who have been lifelong Christians, who vehemently disagree with much of your content. I have voted both Democratic and Republican in the past, and wasn’t raised with any specific voting preference. But I follow Christ as my King. And I try to follow His example of service, kindness and love.
Beth,
A Lincoln statue in Boston was removed, as was a Douglass statue in Rochester, N.Y. You are too late in requesting that concerned parents “understand” CRT. They already do. They don’t like what they have learned and are thus fighting to remove it from their children’s classrooms. I’m sure there have been instances where parents have been threatening. For the most part the “threats” have been felt by those who don’t like their authority being questioned. Your comments about defunding the police are consistent with your other comments. Wishing to live in a world that doesn’t exist. Defund the police is NOT a misnomer. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been removed from law enforcement budgets all over America. Your explanation of a world where we might do things differently doesn’t exist today. In the real world we are forced to deal with crime as it happens, not as we wish it would happen. And yes, Robert E. Lee was a hero. He graduated from the top of his class at the U.S. Military Academy. He was instrumental in our winning the Mexican American War. He served 32 years in the Army of the U.S. He fought to keep his beloved VA. from seceding. When it seceded, Lee was left in a terrible situation. It was rather like asking a mother to choose which of her two children she would give up for adoption. His leadership during Reconstruction was instrumental in saving many lives. Also, much of the land that is Arlington National Cemetery was donated by the Robert E. Lee family. Had you done your homework, like you suggested of parents, you would have known these facts. You are correct in assuming you wont’ change my mind about anything I wrote. I did my research, and formed my opinions around that research. Thank you for reading my blog, and for taking the time to respond. Bob
Where to start with all of this.
OK, the statues.
Lincoln: Torn down not because of Lincoln but because of the depiction of the black person. Even Frederick Douglass apparently didn’t approve of this statue due to that reason. His comments, in part: “The negro here, though rising, is still on his knees and nude,” Douglass wrote. “What I want to see before I die is a monument representing the negro, not couchant on his knees like a four-footed animal, but erect on his feet like a man.”
Lee: We’ll have to agree to disagree on Lee. I think his acts in support of the confederacy overshadows the good he did for the country, so I stop short in calling him “a hero.” And thank you for your air of condescension concerning “my research” or lack thereof. I actually was on the grounds of Arlington Cemetery 5 days ago and read about the Lee family ownership (actually it was via his WIFE’s side of the family.)
Douglass: Torn down but a couple of drunk college students in 2007 (so not recent news, but what the heck, just lump it in to try to make your point…) https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/16/frederick-douglass-2-who-vandalized-ny-statue-help-install-new-one/5451277002/
So yeah, you use “half truths” to try to prove your point. Ick.
CRT: We disagree about how many people truly understand CRT (and thus that it is not currently being “applied” in our schools today.) Here’s a little experiment – it would be interesting for you to ask, in your next “lecture” or whatever you call it, how many people understand CRT and are against it in our schools. And then ask one of those people to define it. If they say “It’s teaching our kids to hate being white,” that’s incorrect. If they say it means “They are teaching that all white people are racist,” that is also wrong. Also while in DC, we went to the African/American History Museum, and I really understood how American was literally build on the backs of blacks. Commerce and growth and trade could not have happened, certainly at the rate it did, without slavery. And then slavery was abolished but blacks still couldn’t get a leg up because they couldn’t buy or own property in so many areas. So “yeah us America!” YES we were pioneers, YES we broke away from Britain and bravely established our own nation, YES American can be a great country, but it’s also a messy history that we all need to fully understand.
Concerning “Defunding the Police”: So there’s no room in your agenda for even considering funding other programs that might stop / prevent the rise in crime? Mental health programs? Reforming welfare programs? You are WRONG concerning “a world where we might do things differently” – several cities ARE trying to reform how they interact with their citizens in more of a comprehensive way. But I guess you’re saying that I just live in a dream world, that we can’t improve the system but we can increase the # of cops to shoot the “bad guys.” More bad guys, more cops, more violence. Don’t prevent the problem, just shoot the problem.
And you say: “For the most part the “threats” have been felt by those who don’t like their authority being questioned.” I’ve been to MANY school board meetings here in Grandville and have heard the threats by parents by my own ears. Parents saying “I know where you live” to a board member. Kinda sounds like a threat to me. Or the guy who said “I believe in civil disobedience but I also believe in UNCIVIL disobedience,” he said in a very angry tone (he was down the row from me.) I’ve heard things that made my jaw drop, here in this fairly “Christian” community. And to board members who have sacrificed their time and energy, only to be harassed. But I guess the people SPOKE when the recent school board recall FAILED due to lack of support.
I think maybe the primary difference between the two of us is, I KNOW I don’t have all the answers. You at least give off the impression that you think you do? I prayed SO much while in Washington – in the Capitol Building, at Arlington, at the National Cathedral, etc. God unify our country – it seems impossible, but I am hopeful. It’s not all about ME and MY RIGHTS, because that is so far from being Christian & Biblical (not sure if that is your persuasion) but it is about giving a hand up and a hand out (when needed). Some call “for the greater good” socialism. I call it following Christ’s example.
Beth, Every point you made above revolves, more or less, around a matter of opinion. I have neither the time nor the inclination to respond to your opinions. We obviously see the world through different eyes. That you disagree with my opinions doesn’t matter to me because I still intend to espouse them. I think the best answer is to agree to disagree. God bless, Bob